Montreal welcome New York City to Saputo Stadium for an MLS Eastern Conference clash. Sitting bottom of the table, the hosts are targeting a turnaround in fortunes but face a New York side looking to build on recent solid showings.
Montreal suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Cincinnati in their previous fixture, with Prince-Osei Owusu getting the consolation after going three goals down. That result continues a dismal run of form for Marco Donadel’s men, who are winless in seven of their last eight matches in all competitions.
Things are even worse for Montreal at Saputo Stadium where they are winless in their last 10 home matches across all competitions. The defeat to Cincinnati was their third loss in four matches in front of their fans.
Sitting eighth in the table, New York City have also had their problems this season. However, they have shown some improvement lately and are unbeaten in four of their last five matches, claiming a 4-0 home victory over Atlanta in their previous fixture.
While things appear good for New York City, some improvement on the road is needed having won just twice in their last 10 away matches. Pascal Jansen's men have drawn the last two in that run, coming from two goals down to play out a 2-2 scoreline in their previous away fixture.
How the bookies view it: Slight edge for New York
New York City have the slight edge among the bookies and are priced at 13/10 by BoyleSports to claim the win. A victory for Cincinnati is valued at 17/10 while a draw is set at odds of 23/10.
Head to head: Upper hand for New York City
New York City have a 14-4 advantage with seven draws from 25 previous matches against Montreal. However, the hosts claimed a 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in May.
Players to watch: Eyes on Wolf
Hannes Wolf is the leading scorer for New York City with eight goals and will be the one to watch. The forward has been on target in three of the last four matches and with Monsef Bakrar also catching the eye, both men can help their side produce over 1.5 goals – priced at 21/20 with BoyleSports.
Owusu’s effort last time out took his tally to seven league goals for the season and the forward could be worth keeping an eye on. With Yuri Guboglo also playing up front, the visitors can also produce over 0.5 goals – valued at 1/4.
Probable line-ups
Montreal will be without Duke Bryce, Fabian Herbers and Giacomo Vrioni, who are all out injured. Owusu should continue in attack while Jalen Neal is set to retain his place in defence.
Striker Alonso Martinez is away on international duty with Costa Rica at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Beyond that, New York City have a fully fit squad and could retain the team that thrashed Atlanta United, with Bakrar and Wolf featuring in attack.
Montreal: Sirois, Petrasso, Neal, Campbell, Bugaj, Loturi, Piette, Pierce, Clark, Guboglo, Owusu
New York City: Romero, Risa, Thiago Martins, Tanasijevic, Fernandez, Perea, Moralez, Ojeda, Wolf, Bakrar
Anything else catch the eye?
Four of Montreal's last five matches have produced over 3.5 goals, valued at 9/5 by BoyleSports, who are also offering 8/11 for over 2.5 goals. Both teams have also scored in four of those five fixtures (BTTS YES at 11/20).
There have been more goals after the break in New York City’s last three matches (second half most goals at 20/21).
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